Scoop behind Virgin and Mariah gamble
The $49-million breakup of Mariah Carey and Virgin Records quickly shed the press-release well-wishing yesterday and skidded into a he said, she said music-biz smackdown. Both sides agree Carey gets $28 million to leave EMI, Virgin Records' parent company, and keeps the $21 million she received in April for signing a reported four-album, $100-million deal. The agreements end there, though.
"If I represented a singing fly, I'd be concerned about entering into a contract with EMI now," said Carey's attorney, Marshall B. Grossman of Alschuler, Grossman, Stein & Kahan in Los Angeles. Team Carey was enraged by an early-morning press release from EMI, Virgin Records' parent company, that said the company had terminated the singer's contract, which Carey's camp calls "false" and "misleading".
"EMI wanted Mariah to remain under contract with EMI - Mariah did not," Grossman said. "That's when we entered into settlement negotiations and reached an amicable agreement." Bert Fields, EMI's attorney, said the company's release citing the termination of Carey's contract was consistent with the joint statement, adding, "No one is pretending that EMI fired her." Fields said he could not comment on whether Carey left EMI or EMI asked her to go, because it would violate confidentiality agreements. "The world can judge for itself the reasons for the negotiations," he said.
The talks began months ago, during tumultuous times for both Carey and EMI. The 31-year-old singer, who was hospitalized for "extreme exhaustion" in August, saw her movie debut, "Glitter", flop, taking the soundtrack, her first album for Virgin, down with it, resulting in a reported $10-million loss. Meanwhile, EMI, the world's third- largest music company, whose stable includes Janet Jackson, Paul McCartney and Shaggy, saw two merger attempts fail and faced financial losses while new CEO Alain Levy made cuts. Levy fired Ken Berry, the executive who lured Carey, the music industry's third-biggest-selling female artist, from Sony.
"We have decided that this is the most prudent course of action for EMI," Levy said in the statement announcing the breakup. Carey, who will sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl on Feb. 3, is currently evaluating offers from other labels. "This is the right decision for me," she said in a statement. "I look forward to the many new and exciting opportunities, which have now been presented to me." (New York Newsday) Many thanks to Mariah Land.
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